


Looking For You

by PotatoQuinn



Series: Looking For You [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex is a Doctor, Alex shows up in chapter 2, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, No DEO, Toddler!Kara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 17:31:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14857097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoQuinn/pseuds/PotatoQuinn
Summary: There's a crime scene, a screaming toddler, and Maggie is thrown in the middle when she arrives on scene. Kara, a toddler, becomes attached to the Detective, and Maggie ends up taking her in. Shenanigans ensue.





	Looking For You

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this like a year ago I think, and I just now finished chapter one, so have a thing to read. Chapter two is in the works, and I'll be posting a few one shots I have written that take place in this universe as well. Enjoy!

    Rain pelted the windows, lightening flashed, thunder roared, and a toddler screamed from within an apartment on the lower floor. She sat at the disfigured head of a woman, her tiny hands sticky with blood, her face red from the effort she was putting in as she her sobs reached a shrieking capacity. Her hair was soaked from the rain that slanted in from the broken window a few feet away, plastered to her forehead and cheeks. The little blonde kept slapping the cheek of her dead mother, calling for her mommy to wake up, to get up, crying harder when there was no answer to her pleadings. Her father lay next to her mother, in a similar state to his wife, gripping her hand tightly. His eyes were open and gazing dully at his daughter, his face in a perpetual state of grief.

    A neighbor, who had just come in from a midnight run to the corner store, dropped his bags off at his own door, then knocked cautiously on the door of his neighbor’s apartment.

    “Hey, is your kid okay?” He could hear the shrieking and sobbing, and rain hitting the wooden floor. He didn’t know the people that lived here, but he’d seen the kind couple with their little girl passing him by in the hall on numerous occasions. When no one came to the door and the crying didn’t stop, he pulled his phone out and dialled the police (who he had in his contacts for reasons), trying the door handle. It twisted open, and he pushed it a few feet to see that it was dark inside.

    “National City Police Department, this is Cindy speaking, how may I direct your call?” The voice was sweet sounding, and the man calmed a little.

    “Um, I think there’s been a break in at my neighbor’s place. Their door is busted, and their kid is screaming.” He knocked on the doorjamb, debating on going in. He knew if there was something wrong, if there was- he didn’t want to mess anything up. But at the same time, the kid was just a toddler, barely coming up to his mid-thigh. She reminded him of his cousin’s kid, tiny and innocent and when he screamed that much, usually something was very very wrong. “They’re not answering my knocking, either.”

    Cindy took his information and made all the arrangements, and then stayed on the line with him while he waited for the officers to arrive. The little girl was crying still, giant, heartbreaking sobs that made her gasp. “Sir, I understand you’re worried about your neighbors, but I must advise against going inside.” She spoke before he could step forward, and he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

    “I’m worried about the kid, she’s tiny. She’s crying a lot.” He bounced on his feet, staring into the darkness of his neighbor’s apartment. Another flash of lightening lit up the interior, just for a split second, and the man saw a quick flash of bright red. He felt the color drain from his face. “I- I think-” He stepped forward, just one step, just to turn the light on, his phone pressed to his ear. “I think I just saw-”

    “Sir, what did you see?” Cindy sounded worried.

    “Sir, are you the one that called in the break-in?” He spun to see a short woman there, with tan skin and dark hair, a whole head-and-a-half shorter than him, holding up a badge. He nodded and stepped out of the way as he told Cindy the police were there and hung up. “Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD,” she introduced herself as an officer stepped into the apartment.

    “Um, I’m Jack.” He shifted on his feet, glancing at his bags. He had a carton of ice cream in one, and it was no doubt melting.

    “Shit! Mags, we’re gonna have to call a team,” Detective Sawyer’s partner called from inside, and the woman dashed in.

    Jack took this time to go into his own apartment and grab a spoon, opening the ice cream. He figured they’d want to talk to him, so he might as well stay in the hall. And why waste perfectly good chocolate chunk ice cream?

~~~

    Maggie stood outside in front of the apartment building, the little girl wrapped up in her arms. Once she had gotten the toddler away from the scene, the tiny child had attached herself to her person and had refused to let go since, tucking her tear-stained face in her neck. She grimaced as she shifted the toddler into a more comfortable position, allowing the paramedic to clean the blonde up a little and check for injuries. The one time she’d tried to hand her off, the kid had started screaming again and just clung tighter to her jacket, so now Maggie was just trying to keep her calm. Which, given that it was still storming and raining, was surprisingly easy.

    There was a social worker standing off to the side, watching her and the kid, waiting patiently for the medics to finish checking on her. Maggie was trying to find the best way to detach the toddler from her person with as little fussing as possible, but with how tightly the girl was holding onto her, she was starting to believe it was impossible.

    Finally, the detective got fed up with the paramedic’s “accidental” boob brushes and pushed past him to the waiting ambulance. She pulled the girl off of her and sat her down on the floor of the vehicle, keeping a hold of her arms as the toddler started freaking out.

    “Hey hey, I’m not going anywhere, kid,” she said, speaking calmly as she leaned forward so the little blonde could hear her. “Just let these people look you over, I’m going to stay right here, I promise.”

    The little girl’s blue eyes blinked up at her, and Maggie smiled softly. “Stay?” she sniffed, still clutching onto the sleeve of the detective’s jacket.

    Maggie searched her pockets for a tissue and wiped the girl’s nose. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” She was a bit confused as to why this child had attached herself to her, a virtual stranger. She wasn’t about to challenge it though, so she just stepped to the side a bit to allow the guy to look over the kid better, keeping in the girl’s sight and near enough that she could grab her up if needed.

    “Hey, Sawyer!” Her partner, Detective Lionel Carter, waved at her from where he stood talking to a forensic scientist holding an evidence bag. “Take a look at this!”

    Maggie frowned, glancing from him to the little blonde still clutching her jacket sleeve. She didn’t want to make the kid freak out again, but she also had a job to do. So she took her windbreaker off and lightly nudged the paramedic away, who just shrugged. He was done anyway, and just needed to put his stuff away. “Hey kid, I gotta go over there and talk to my partner. I need you to sit here for a minute, and I’ll be right back, okay?” She draped the windbreaker over the girl’s shoulders and zipped it up. To her credit, the girl only whined a little bit, but sat down without much fuss and held the jacket closer around her. Maggie pushed blonde locks out of tired blue eyes and smiled before turning to the paramedic. “Listen, you keep her here. I’m just going over there to talk to my partner. Watch her, got it?” She jabbed her finger in his chest and he nodded, his eyes wide.

    “Y- yes ma’am, I’ll watch her,” he agreed.

    Maggie nodded and went to her partner’s side, stuffing her hands in her pants pockets. “Whatcha got?”

~~~

    Maggie Sawyer was a lot of things. She was a detective, a damn good one at that. She was a daughter, even if she hadn’t talked to her parents since she was fourteen. She was a niece. She was a proud lesbian woman, even if she was single at that moment. She was a friend and honorary aunt to a few great kids.

    She was not, however, a parent.

    It’s not that she didn’t want kids. It was more like, she was always working, and none of her exes had ever wanted them, and the opportunity just never came about. She was always busy, and she hardly had time to spend with her friends’ kids. She was better as the strange, queer aunt that showed up to barbeques and brought treats and then left. Maybe babysitting them every once in awhile. For a few hours. At most.

    She explained this all to the social worker that had taken the little girl’s case, pacing back and forth in the hallway of the apartment building.

    “You don’t have to be a parent, Detective,” the woman, Marley Johns, shook her head, holding her tablet in one arm. “Listen, if it’s really that impossible, I’ll find someone else. But Kara has already attached herself to you.”

    “Kara?” Maggie stopped and stared at the social worker with furrowed brows. “Who?”

    “The little girl. That’s her name, Kara. Kara Zorel.” Marley leaned against the wall and glanced down to where the toddler was sitting with a coloring book and crayons someone had brought for her. “They found her birth certificate and other papers in a file cabinet.”

    “Right.” Maggie nodded, starting to pace again.

    “Detective, I-”

    “Look!” The little girl, Kara, jumped up suddenly with her coloring book in her hand and ran to the detective, the windbreaker almost tripping her as it dragged on the floor. “Picter for you!” She pulled on Maggie’s jeans to get her attention, and Maggie knelt down to her level to look at the book.

    “You colored a picture for me?” Maggie blinked, taking in the blue and green puppy on the page. Most of the color seeped out of the lines, but stayed relatively in the area of the puppy, an impressive feat for a toddler, Maggie supposed.

    “Puppy! For you!” Kara grinned and pushed the coloring book towards Maggie. Then she yawned, her eyes closing.

    Maggie looked up at Marley helplessly, her arm around the little girl as she leaned into her side. “I-” She didn’t know the first thing about actually taking care of a toddler. Sure, she’d been there for her friend when his wife had left him and his then two-year-old, but mostly she just played with her while he had done all the responsible stuff. What the hell was she supposed to do with this-

    While she was lost in her thoughts, Kara had found a way to crawl into her arms, nestling her face into the detective’s neck. Marley shrugged, as if to say ‘what can you do?’, and Maggie swallowed her anxiety. This kid had already been through way too much. She’d lost both her parents in such a brutal way, had possibly been witness to their murders. Could she really put this kid through the system, too?

    “Alright. I’ll take her. You’re looking for her next of kin, though, right?” Maggie scooped the little girl up, settling her against her chest.

    “Of course, if she has family left, and if they’re good people and able to care for her, they would be the ideal guardian for her.” Marley smiled and picked up the crayons that had been left on the floor. “I’m leaving her papers with you, I’ve taken pictures and have them documented on my tablet. We’ll be doing everything we can to find whoever she has left. I want to set her up with a child therapist, too, with all that she went through this morning.” She slipped the crayons into their box and put the box into the little backpack that had been brought out from Kara’s own room. Since the crime scene was in the main room, and the forensics had gone through the rest of the place, some of Kara’s toys and clothes were cleared and packed up. “Meanwhile, take her home, and get some rest.”

    Maggie frowned and nodded, shifting Kara’s weight a little. “Right. Okay.” She took the backpack and slung it over her shoulder, taking hold of the small suitcase that held Kara's clothes, before heading to the car that would take them back to the station where her own vehicle was still parked.

    The ride back to the station was quiet, Kara having fallen asleep in her car seat (which had been found in the front closet of her parents’ home). It was still raining by the time they made it to the station, and Maggie hurried to get the toddler out of the car and into the station so she could clock out for the day. Or try to. She couldn't exactly guarantee the Captain would let her leave so early. She kept the girl wrapped up in the windbreaker and made her way into the station, Kara’s backpack over her shoulder. Reese followed behind with the carseat in their hands, and the two hurried inside. Maggie went to her desk and set the backpack down on its surface, adjusting her hold on the toddler as she turned to head to her Captain’s office. Reese stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could so much as take a step, however.

    “Maybe you should leave her here while you talk with him?” The officer grimaced.

    Maggie frowned, her hold on the little girl tightening just a little. It's not that her Captain was unreasonable. He was actually really nice, but his appearance and gruff demeanor sometimes set some people on edge. She chewed on her lip and looked down at Kara, who was half asleep and clinging to her still. "I'm not sure she'll let me go, to be honest. She hasn't really let me out of her sight without freaking out since- since." She sighed, feeling too tired for it to be just after noon. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Plus, it'll help me explain why I need to take some time off."

    Reese wrinkled their nose. "I'm not sure you really need a reason to take some time off, at this point."

    Maggie narrowed her eyes at her friend. "What's that supposed to mean?" There was no bite to her words, nor was there an expectation for the officer to answer. She knew what they meant. She hadn't missed a day of work in five years, except for that one time she'd been admitted to the hospital for that flu that one time last year. Everyone in the precinct thought she worked too much, including those down at HR. She huffed and gently adjusted Kara, who grumbled and buried her face in the detective's neck. "Whatever. I can't put her down right now unless we're headed home," she mumbled, turning back towards the captain's office. She shifted Kara's weight to one arm for a moment and knocked, entering at the man's say-so and shutting the door quietly behind her. "Sir, I need to take a few days off, starting right now."

    The captain looked up from his paperwork, eyeing her with a raised white eyebrow. He set his pen down and folded his hands across the file on his desk as his brow lowered. "Of course you can take the week off, Detective Sawyer."

    "I- Um, yes sir, thank you sir." Maggie held in the sigh she felt coming on and licked her lips. "This is temporary sir, I just need some time to find a sitter or something," she said, not sure who she was trying to convince; her captain or herself.

    "Of course." He nodded once, then unfolded his hands and picked up his pen, bending his head back over the files. "Be sure to sign the appropriate paperwork at HR when you have the time, Detective."

    Maggie let out a breath and smiled. "Yes sir." She hefted Kara up a bit and turned and left the office, rubbing at the toddler's back when she started to whine a little.

~~~

    Seeing as it was the middle of the day, Maggie allowed Kara to sleep for a bit while she made some calls. Or rather, while she called her former partner-slash-current-best-friend, Joel Markson.

    She settled Kara in her bed, setting up pillows just in case, and then went to the kitchen. She'd kicked her boots off when they got there, and now they sat by the door with a tiny pair of shoes, and her own jacket laid over the back of the couch with Kara's. She ran a hand through her hair as she dialled the phone, staring at the cupboards to try and think of something to make for lunch.

    "Mags, you goin' soft on me?" The gentle rumble of her former work partner served to settle her nerves a little, and she huffed at him.

    "I'm not going soft, Markson," she mumbled, opening the cupboard and staring at the contents. Peanut butter, a box of rice, brown sugar... She really needed to go grocery shopping. "You'd have done the same thing."

    "You and I are two very different people, Sawyer." Maggie pulled down the jar of peanut butter, checking it for an expiration date. "I have kids, you don't. You don't even like babysitting mine, and they can feed themselves."

    She was quiet for a minute as she dug in a drawer for a butter knife, then went for the multi-grain bread in the bread box. Kids liked peanut butter sandwiches, right? "I couldn't just leave her, Joel."

    Over the line, Joel made a noise, a cross between a scoff and a grunt. "You _have_  gone soft, Sawyer!"

    Maggie grinned and rolled her eyes. "I have not, shut up." She started making the sandwich, trying to spread the peanut butter evenly on the bread.

    Maggie chatted with Joel for a little bit more, storing away the little bits of advice he gave her, then hung up and went to check on Kara.

    She found the little one sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, a little crinkle in the middle of her eyebrows. Her chin was wobbling and her eyes were tearing up, but all that cleared when she saw Maggie. She reached up and made grabby hands, and Maggie couldn't just let the girl sit there with that pout and those blue puppy-dog eyes. She scooped her up and set her on her hip, staring at Kara while Kara stared at her. "Are you hungry?" Kara nodded. "Want a peanut butter sandwich?" Kara nodded again, and Maggie nodded once before carying her to the kitchen.

    She could do this.


End file.
